This invention relates to video and audio interface circuitry for video processors and specifically to such circuitry which interprets software instructions from function defining software to generate video and audio display information.
Video game processors as well as video and audio interface circuitry are more marketable and more desirable when they are smaller, use less power and are less expensive to manufacture than their competing circuits. As processors have generally more universal function, microprocessor development has progressed into NMOS large scale integration (LSI) circuitry more rapidly.
Video and audio interface circuitry, being more specific to the particular application, i.e., to the particular specifications of the device, have developed in the area of miniaturization and inexpensive implementation less slowly.
As a result, much of low cost computer/video game circuitry costs are attributed to video and audio interface circuitry which "interprets" the game program or "text". As the features incorporated into this interface circuitry increase and multiple standards (such as National Television Systems Committee ["NTSC"] and PAL) are applied, costs of manufacture increase.